“Weakness of Will in the Nicomachean Ethics: How Socratic is Aristotle?”

Abstract:

Socrates famously denies the possibility of weakness of will (akrasia), maintaining that no one acts against what they judge to be the best course of action. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle shares the general opinion in objecting that Socrates’ view “is inconsistent with the obvious facts” (1145b28). Aristotle maintains, nevertheless, that there is some truth in what Socrates said, and concludes his own account of akrasia by claiming that “we seem to get what Socrates sought after” (1147b14-15). But scholars disagree about many aspects of Aristotle’s account, and we are left puzzling over the extent to which his account is actually Socratic. In this paper, I address the fundamental interpretive questions concerning Aristotle’s account and argue that his account is best understood as being very Socratic, perhaps more so than Aristotle himself recognized.

Rainer Forst’s constructivism aspires to justify human rights on categorical, reasonably non-rejectable grounds. It is a key objective of his approach to provide an alternative to “ethical” accounts that justify these rights hypothetically on grounds that (allegedly) can reasonably be rejected. I argue that Forst’s constructivism does not achieve that objective. To this end, I engage two lines of thought at its centre: one builds on a view to the effect that respect for other people commits us to accord them a right to justification, the other revolves around the theme that our validity claims commit us to justifications by a constructivist standard of reciprocity and generality. Yet none of this can yield the sought-after categorical grounding of human rights. At most, it yields a hypothetical justification on grounds that can reasonably be rejected – namely, a commitment to the good of constitutive discursive standing. Taking this to be an important good may be plausible to many, but it stands in need of justification: this opens the door wide for “ethical” arguments.

“Commentating as Philosophy and the Abrahamic Interpreters” started today at Sismanoglio Megaro (Istiklal Cd), continues at Heybeliada on Thursday, and then back to SM for Friday and Saturday. All welcome!